Iceland-U.S. Defense Agreement ‘Model for Eastern Europe’

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Iceland-U.S. Defense Agreement ‘Model for Eastern Europe’

Victoria Nuland, United States Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, has said that the U.S. defense agreement with Iceland is pioneering and should be used as a model, particularly for U.S. agreements in Eastern Europe.

“Our defense agreement from 1951 remains unchanged. What has changed is how we cooperate on defense issues. Iceland operates the [former US Naval Air base] Keflavík airport but actively cooperates with the United States; military exercises on land, water and in the air, both bilaterally and in cooperation with other NATO countries,” she said in an interview with visir.is.

Nuland added that the agreement provided a model for defense cooperation in the 21st century and that she hoped for similar arrangements between the U.S. and other countries, such as those in Eastern Europe.